The Philosophy of Fighting

UFC 317 delivered in a big way-- from Ilya Topuria dismantling Charles Oliveira with ease and staking his claim as the future GOAT, to Pantoja getting blatantly disrespected in the pound-for-pound rankings , to Joshua Van and Brandon Royval having a fight-of-the-year contender , this card had it all. For the first time in years, flyweight is actually exciting , and we're here for it. We'll...

Fighting isn't all martial arts. What if the US went to war with Canada? In this thought experiment, we're joined by David LaRocque, author of The 51st State , a provocative novel that imagines just that. Together, we explore the political tensions, military scenarios, and cultural shockwaves that could unfold if America's quiet neighbor became its battlefield. From resource grabs to b...

We had a NYC reunion that manifested in some long overdue rolls together at Richmond County Jiu-Jitsu. Arturo got to roll with Anup's instructor, and guest of the show, John Burke as well. Then we talk about Ukraine's diabolically brilliant tactical hit on Russia. For fun, we entertain what a USA vs Canada war might look like and we wrap up talking about the previous day's UFC Fight Ni...

We're diving into the rarest submission of the night, breaking down Volk's historic win at 36 years old, and getting real about why UFC's numbers are dropping. If you're a fight nerd, this one's for you.

Are there MMA techniques that are good for sport but dangerous in a street fight? We go over ones we think might fit that bill. While we think MMA is the best for one on one, hand to hand self-defense, there are still drawbacks and pitfalls to moves we may not regularly consider risky.

Nick is a veteran and host of the Hard to Kill podast (@hardtokillp0d). We talk UFC 313, Tim Kennedy and other military influencers, conspiracies, the future of war, PTSD, and more.

Why are eye pokes and low blows not automatic point deductions? Why does intention matter if it's illegal? Coming off Henry Cejudo's eye poke from Song Yadong, we're left wondering why the ruleset is so subjective. We also catch up from the previous UFC, how Rentah is doing, Jordan Barker from Karate Combat, Bryce Mitchell and more.

We cover a lot more than UFC 311 since we haven't spoke in a month or so. There's a lot going on in the fight space and the world at large.

Breaking news on the same day: Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting, Luigi Mangione, taken into custody and Daniel Penny (choked Jordan Neely to death) acquitted of criminal charges. Both of these stories make people feel a certain type of way, and we'll let you know how we feel about them and some messages and responses we've received about both of these cases.

Anup got married and is turning 40! After a long break, we talk about Topuria vs Holloway, Whitaker vs Chimaev, Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson, Chandler vs Oliveira, and Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic. Arturo has a problem with people thinking Mike Tyson and Jon Jones are the heroes of their stories.

Arturo turns 40, Israel vs Hezbollah, fire-breathing drones, UFC 306 (O'Malley vs Dvalishvili), and weirdos in martial arts. A lot to catch up on over the last month!

Did Craig Jones beat ADCC? The takeaways and highlights of CJI vs ADCC and UFC 305 (Adesanya vs Du Plessis). Is Nicky Rod the new king of nogi jiu-jitsu? Arturo talks about his time getting played by Jason Khalipa at a seminar in Ft. Worth with Xande Ribeiro and Jocko.

Elias is back on the podcast! Elias asks, "what is my student trying to get out of BJJ?" We need to ask them! We dive into his philosophies helping his members by first asking them what their goals are. If you want to help them as best you can as an individual, you need to know this. We dive into what a good kids program looks like, martial arts in public schools, and how these things ca...

Lots of fighters end their MMA career and go into boxing. We talk about how Diaz vs Masvidal and Jake Paul vs Mike Perry seemed pretty successful and entertaining. Then there's guys getting boxing matches like Darren Till, Francis Ngannou and several other MMA fighters who are on the brink of retiring from MMA and have boxing potential. Also will Jake Paul have the likes of Anderson Silva, Mik...

Arturo has a F2W match coming up, his boys are starting jiu-jitsu camp and we talk UFC 303- what we like and what we think might happen in the aftermath.

When people get into martial arts for self-defense, is it natural to progress into weaponry, bugout bags, and overall doomsday preparedness? Are self-defense minded people usually more conservative or are conservative people more self-defense minded?

Anup gets a purple belt in jiu-jitsu, Ryan Garcia getting arrested, conspiracies around Ryan Garcia, what we think is happening with Conor McGregor, and alluding to our next episode's topic of martial arts leading down the road to doomsday prepping as a continuation of self-defense.

UFC 302, Gable Stevenson to the Bills, Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson delayed, Craig Jones Invitational vs ADCC and Gabi Garcia, Nick Diaz and Tony Fergusson have fights lined up, and other recent news in combat sports lately.

For the 100th episode, we use a new format to chop through issues. 3 instances of random, brutal violence in NYC, Ryan Garcia's PED accusations from VADA and whether that even means anything in boxing, Arturo gives Anup some information on Anup's ailing lower back problems, and then debating Ray Lewis vs Floyd Mayweather and Alex Pereira vs Jon Jones.

Craig Jones comes clean and even markets his PED stack. What are the PEDs, what do they do, and is this a good thing? Then we discuss MMA Guru's 'Jon Jones is gay' conspiracy, how much that would sell, and a little talk on Michael Chandler vs Conor McGregor.

Reviewing fights and potential future matchups to make after UFC 300. Was it everything you thought it'd be? Alex Pereira vs Jamahal Hill, Weili Zhang vs Yan Xiaonan, Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira vs Arman Tsarukyan, Bo Nickal vs Cody Brundage, Jiri Prochazka vs Aleksandar Rakic, Calvin Kattar vs Aljamain Sterling, Holly Holm vs Kayla Harrison, Sodiq Yusuff vs Diego Lopes, J...

Would you break someone's arm if they didn't tap at a local BJJ tournament? What level is it okay? Then a review on Calon Sabino's (local San Diego BJJ black belt) altercation with an intoxicated, provoking man outside of a Wells Fargo Bank. This video went viral and provoked a lot of discussion on self-defense and what is appropriate when.

A group of affluent high school boys bully and kill another local boy and boast about it. Women are randomly being punched by unknown men in NYC. Our feeds are full of unnecessary violence, but is it just our feeds? Or is America less safe than it used to be?

Ben Askren postulated that the best wrestlers would defeat the best BJJ players in a Catch Wrestling ruleset, which he argued was most applicable for fighting. Is this the case? Arturo got staph and impetigo, and then we talk about placebos vs nocebos and how it affects our training.

UFC fighter Sean Strickland made a video claiming Navy Seals wouldn't last a fight camp with him and to stop claiming to be the toughest people in the world. A Navy Seal made a response to Sean and the internet, like always, had an argument about it. Then we get into ideas of 'fighting for freedom' vs wars under false pretense.